No Good
by Elinor W
Summary: The Marauders are at Hogwarts and nothing will ever be the same...
1. Meetings

A young boy perched on the edge of a sofa, attempting to keep from fidgeting and readjusting his dress robes. He looked up every now and then as a house elf scurried past, laden with platters of delicious looking foods. The Black family was famous for their fantastic parties and Mrs. Black was determined to uphold the family reputation.  
  
Across the room another boy was slouching back against the fireplace poking aimlessly at the fire. "Sirius." The first boy said, "You really oughtn't do that. Mother would go mad if she saw you. And if you get soot all over your dress robes again I'm quite certain she would simply murder you." Regulus said.  
  
"Shut up Regulus-" Sirius stopped talking as his mother swept into the room, a short man frantically scribbling on a pad of paper as he followed in her wake. Sirius sprang to his feet, earning a scowl from his mother. "Sirius!" she glared at him and opened her mouth as if to scold him but shook her head. "No time for that, you two be on your best behavior. I had to invite the Minister of Magic of course, Mudblood that he is and he's brought along a few of his putrid lackeys and I want you two to act as a true Pureblood family should." She pulled Sirius' green and black dress robes straight and nodded. "Boys, I want you two stationed at the fireplace to greet and then entertain your little friends until dinner." She said.  
  
"Yes Ma'am." Sirius replied dully. He hated these parties, getting all dressed up and being polite to people he didn't even know.  
  
He slouched against the fireplace holding the family's FlooFighter. It just wouldn't do for the guests to show up for the party covered with ash. With a flash a boy in his late teens stumbled out of the fireplace in a cloud of soot.  
  
"Well now, if it isn't the little ferret boy." The youth sneered.  
  
"Shut up Lucius." Sirius snapped.  
  
"Ooh, Mommy, Sirius isn't being very nice to me." Lucius Malfoy sneered at Sirius, "You're a splotch on your family name you know." He turned to Regulus who was looking up at his idol adoringly. "And poor Regulus, stuck with such a prat for a brother." Lucius smiled at the younger boy and Sirius struggled to keep from shoving the older boy away from his little brother.  
  
With twin flashes Lucius' parents appeared in the fire and Sirius instantly put on his polite host face. According to his mother the Malfoys were important people and if any news of him being impolite to them got back to his mother he was in for another lashing from his father.  
  
"Mrs. Malfoy, what a pleasure to see you Ma'am, I'm glad you could make it to the party, might I escort you to the ballroom?" he asked politely, offering her his arm. With a quick smile that Sirius knew was as fake as his own she accepted and he escorted her in.  
  
Soon the house was filled with chatting adults and the children sat around in one of the parlors to talk. Theodore Nott the III motioned for Sirius to sit down next to him which Sirius did with an inwards sigh. They were all dolts for the most part, his brother included. Nott nodded. "So you're starting at Hogwarts this year too then, Black?" Sirius didn't bother to answer, he knew Nott knew already. They all knew the names, ages and faces of every one of the elite Pure Bloods, Nott was just making conversation and Sirius wasn't in the mood.  
  
"The place is overflowing with Mudbloods now. Our fathers were considering sending us all to Durmstrang you know. Much better school really." Nott said. Sirius nodded absently, his mind not on the conversation. Sirius wasn't completely certain what it was about Mudbloods that made them so horrible but perhaps he would find out once he went to Hogwarts.  
  
* * *  
  
"James Potter, pleased to meet you." The boy said. He waved the fifteenth wand that Mr. Ollivander had given him absently before it was snatched away by the elderly wandmaker. He extended a hand to Sirius who shook it. "My name's Sirius Black. You a first year too?" Sirius asked.  
  
James nodded then grinned as the wand he held began to shoot sparks into the air gleefully. He flourished his new wand as he paid Mr. Ollivander. "How about I wait for you while you get yours." He suggested.  
  
"Yeah! I've still got to get everything else on my list and I wanted to stop and Dervish and Bang's and Quality Quidditch Supplies too." Sirius said. He began to try wands as fast as Mr. Ollivander could bring them out, glancing at James to see what the other boy would say.  
  
James grinned devilishly, "Great! I need to stock up on Dungbombs and they've got a new broom model in that I wanted to take a look at. Dad said I could have a new broom for my second year if I want to play for my house. Plus, and this is even better, I heard that Dervish and Bangs has a whole bunch of new joke books that sound great." He said.  
  
Sirius grinned at him. "I've never actually bought anything in there, only looked around. My mother doesn't really encourage jokes in our house. But since I'm going to Hogwarts and she's not here to see."A devilish grin lit up his face as he considered all of the possibilities that lay at Hogwarts, "I can't wait!"  
  
James looked up as he heard a change in the other boy's voice. As a grin blossomed on Sirius' face at the thought of being away from home a light twinkled in his eyes that hadn't been there before. Then James blinked. "Wait, you've never bought anything there? Boy this is going to be great!" he exclaimed.  
  
Sirius reached into his pocket to pay for the wand he had just found and the boys thanked Mr. Ollivander before heading to Dervish and Bang's.  
  
"Gosh! That place is officially my favorite place in the world!" Sirius exclaimed a half hour later as the boys emerged from the shop each trailing a train of floating shopping bags stuffed with goodies. "I can't believe I've missed out on this all my life." He said. He could believe it actually, he really couldn't see himself using any of those things at home. But Hogwarts was a whole different story.  
  
James grinned at his new friend as they entered into "Scribbled Scrolls" to get their books for school. "Hogwarts?" the young man standing behind the desk asked. They nodded and handed him their booklists. He nodded and waved his wand. Two stacks of books appeared on the counter. "There you are then." He said.  
  
James paid for his books and then nudged Sirius who had his nose stuck in a book he had picked up from a shelf nearby. Sirius looked up with a start and then put the book he had been reading on top of his pile. "This too please." He said, pulling out a handful of Sickles to pay for his purchase.  
  
James peered at the book his friend was so interested in with curiosity and Sirius showed his friend with a grin. "The Trickster's Guide to Tricks, Traps and the Occasional Treat. Ooh, nice choice, that one's got some good ones in it. Luckily, none that you'll be able to pull on me, I am the Master when it comes to this stuff." James said.  
  
Sirius just smiled.  
  
* * *  
  
"I hear you went gallivanting around Diagon Alley with some boy not from the Families." Mrs. Black said. Her eyes flashed with barely concealed anger as she looked at Sirius, "Who was he?"  
  
Sirius swallowed, his day with James had been more than enough to pay for whatever punishments were to come but he dreaded his mother's rages. "Er, his name is James Potter ma'am." He said. Mrs. Black reached for a giant book that was covered in ancient leather with green and gold tooling. "Potter.potter." she flipped through the pages of the book until she came to the entry she was looking for. "Let's see, Henry Potter, well known ministry official.ah here we are, fourteen generations of pure bloods on his side. Fifteen on his wife's side. That makes this little Potter boy you're hanging about with acceptable I suppose although they are supporters of our disgusting Minister." She spat contemptuously at the mention of Phillip Hastings, the Minister of Magic who happened to have a Muggle ancestor somewhere in his bloodline. Sirius ignored his mother, pleased that there wouldn't be any objections to his friendship with James.  
  
"Did you have fun in Diagon Alley Jamie?" Mrs. Potter asked as her son came bounding into the room. "It was great Mum! I met another boy who's going to be going into his first year too. We spent all day together!"  
  
"Does your new little friend have a name?" Mrs. Potter asked.  
  
"Sirius Black." James said.  
  
Mrs. Potter's brow clouded for a moment and James looked at her, curiosity apparent in his brown eyes. "What's wrong Mum?"  
  
"The Black family." Mrs. Potter trailed off and then smiled. "It's nothing much, your new friend sounds very nice. I'm sure you'll love it at Hogwarts."  
  
James smiled. "I know I will." He said. His mother chuckled as he dashed off up the stairs, his bags from Dervish and Bangs still trailing behind him. Mrs. Potter frowned as the last bag disappeared around the corner, she wasn't sure she wanted her young son mixing with the Blacks. At the least that family was always up to no good.  
  
* * *  
  
"Oy! James!" James looked up to see Sirius hanging out one of the windows of the Hogwarts Express. "Load up your trunk and get in here!" Sirius shouted. James grinned and waved as he stowed his trunk in and then dashed into the train to greet his friend.  
  
Sirius was lounging on one of the long seats of an empty compartment and he grinned when James burst through the compartment door. "Took you long enough to get here. I've been waiting for about half an hour." Sirius said. James shrugged apologetically as he sat down.all the way to the floor. James yelped as he slid through the portion of the bench that he had attempted to sit on. Sirius laughed as James leapt to his feet indignantly.  
  
"Oh, if you could have seen the expression on your face!" Sirius gasped before dissolving into fits of laughter once more.  
  
James slowly smiled. "Very funny. Ah, I should have seen that one coming, I've read that book often enough." He said.  
  
"So you're "The Master" huh?" Sirius asked with a grin as James dusted off the seat of his pants and took a seat on another piece of the bench after testing it carefully with his foot. "So how was the rest of your summer?" James asked.  
  
Sirius' stopped laughing and shrugged. "It was alright." He said. "What about yours?"  
  
"Not very exciting but it wasn't too bad. I was too excited about starting at Hogwarts to really think about it much. I can't wait to be Sorted. Which house do you think you'll be in." James said.  
  
"Slytherin probably, just like all my other little "friends". All my family was in Slytherin. They always have been so that's probably where I'll be." Sirius said.  
  
James frowned, what was it that his mother had said, "The Black family." and she had stopped but James thought somehow that the rest of her sentence was not going to be "is a wonderful, happy family." James shook his head, he didn't care what Sirius' family was like. Sirius was his friend.  
  
"I want to be in Gryffindor. Bravery, adventure, it just seems like the perfect house for me. My dad was in Gryffindor but my mum was a Ravenclaw. I guess I wouldn't mind Ravenclaw much either. Nothing wrong with being smart." He said.  
  
Sirius was about to answer when a young woman with a cart filled with goodies stopped outside the doorway. "Would you two like anything?" she asked. Both the boys leapt to their feet eagerly, digging in their pockets for money.  
  
James took a little of everything and retreated to his seat with his feast of fine foods. He and Sirius were sharing a Dancing Dog when the compartment door slid open again.  
  
A boy Sirius recognized vaguely was standing in the doorway, covered with what looked like Dung. James and Sirius stared as the boy stood in the doorway for a moment and then said. "Er, may I come in?" Sirius nodded numbly and the boy staggered into the compartment. "My name's Peter Pettigrew." The boy said, his voice almost a whimper.  
  
James and Sirius were still dazed by the boy's appearance. "What happened to you?" Sirius asked finally. The boy just shook his head with a small whine. Two more boys stormed into the compartment and grabbed Peter by the back of his robes. "There you are filthy little Mudblood. We aren't done with our fun yet. You'll wish you'd never even heard of wizards by the time we're through with you little Muggle boy." Lucius Malfoy sneered.  
  
James snarled at the burly seventh year regardless of how much larger and stronger the older boy was. "Take your hands off him, what's he done to you?" James asked.  
  
Lucius turned his attention to James with a snarl. "Muggles don't belong here. We're just getting rid of this one." He said. He turned to Sirius, seeing him for the first time. "Hey there ferret. You keeping company with Muggle lovers now. Tsk, tsk, what will mommy say when she hears?"  
  
Sirius snarled and lunged at Lucius who just laughed as he shoved the younger boy to the floor. "Stay away from me ferret." He said. He gave Sirius a kick in the side and Sirius doubled over, his wind knocked from him. "You know better than that. Come on Crabbe." He aimed another kick at Sirius and started to drag a frantically scrabbling Peter out of the compartment. "There's still some fun left in this one." He said.  
  
James leaped at Lucius, wand outstretched and whispered something under his breath. Lucius roared as he was flung backwards out of the compartment by the giant pink bubble that had sprung from James' wand. In his hurry to get out of the compartment Lucius dropped Peter who now lay limply on the floor. James sprang forwards to lock the compartment door and turned to look at Sirius. "You know that kid?" he asked.  
  
Sirius managed to nod with a groan and James went over to help him up. "Are you okay Sirius?" he asked, concern prominent on his boyish features.  
  
"I'll be okay, but you better check on Prentew or whatever he said his name was. He doesn't look so good." Sirius said softly as he stumbled to his feet, still holding his side protectively.  
  
Peter Pettigrew was still lying on the floor where Lucius had left him and blood was trickling slowly out of his nose as he lay on the floor. James helped him up and gave him a tissue to stop the bleeding.  
  
"So that guy attacked Peter just because he's Muggleborn?" James asked Sirius who gave a tired nod in response. "Well, once you get cleaned up come on back here Peter, you can ride with us till we get there." James decided, pointing Peter in the direction of the bathroom.  
  
"I hate him!" Sirius burst out as Peter closed the door behind him.  
  
"Who? Peter?" James asked.  
  
"No you prat, the idiot who was just in here. Lucius Malfoy." Sirius said.  
  
James nodded solemnly and settled in for the rest of the ride. It passed uneventfully.  
  
* * *  
  
Sirius gulped as "Baddock, Amanda." Walked forwards to place the sorting hat on her head. He was next. The seconds seemed to go by so slowly as she sat there with the hat over her head until finally, "Slytherin!" the Slytherin table erupted with cheers as Amanda walked forwards to sit with them.  
  
"Black, Sirius." Sirius walked forwards and sat on the stool as the Professor placed the hat over his eyes. "Well, well, another Black. You're wanting Slytherin I suppose." Sirius jumped as the Sorting Hat spoke into his ear. He knew that he should want Slytherin but. "A little undecided are we then. You'd do well in Slytherin but your heart's against it. Let's see. If you're not to be in Slytherin we'll put you in.Gryffindor!" the Gryffindor table broke into surprised applause and Sirius walked over to the table and sat down amidst the congratulations from his new house mates.  
  
"My parents are going to kill me." He whispered. He risked a glance over to the Slytherin table only to see that they were all staring daggers towards him. He gulped, maybe he should've asked for Slytherin. His family was going to kill him.  
  
James looked concernedly over at Sirius as he made his way up to the Sorting Hat, his friend didn't look very happy about his Sorting and James was willing to guess that it was because of his family. James turned his attention to the Sorting Hat and waited anxiously as the Professor placed it onto his head.  
  
"Please, put me into Gryffindor." He thought as hard as he could.  
  
"You want Gryffindor eh? Well, you've got plenty of bravery, and you'll do well there. Gryffindor! It is."  
  
James headed over to the Gryffindor table where Sirius welcomed him with a happy grin. "We'll be together then!" he exclaimed.  
  
James smiled. "Gryffindor won't even know what hit it once we arrive." As the last students were sorted into their houses James and Sirius tucked into their meal eagerly as the other new first years introduced themselves.  
  
"I'm Chris Randolph." One of the boys said. He looked around at the first years gathered around the table with a grin. "Who're all you guys."  
  
"Sarah Hastings."  
  
"Lily Evans."  
  
"Kyle Griggs."  
  
"Alyse Watson."  
  
"Remus Lupin."  
  
"Peter Pettigrew."  
  
"James Potter."  
  
"and I'm Sirius Black." Sirius finished. Three other girls were already deep in conversation with a few of the older students so the first years skipped past them in their introductions.  
  
Chris was looking around the hall in delight, staring at the ceiling and the floating lights. He smiled. "A few weeks ago I would have called you crazy if you even tried to tell me this sort of thing existed. Now here I am, about to learn to be a wizard." He said.  
  
Peter nodded in agreement as did Lily and Kyle. "I'm half Muggle half wizard." Remus said. The boy shook a piece of his hair out of his eyes and grinned. "Mum was half out of her wits with surprise when she found out. Dad told her the day before their wedding when he mistakenly Transfigured the wedding cake into a puppy." He explained.  
  
James chuckled. "I'm all wizard but I've got a few friends from my Muggle school and I'm constantly having to explain away all the odd sorts of things that seem to happen around me." He said.  
  
The first year Gryffindors ate until they were stuffed to the gills with delicious food. Sirius groaned as he stood up from the table. "You're my friend right?" he asked James.  
  
"Of course." James said.  
  
"Then kill me now. Please. Just put me out of my misery." Sirius pleaded. James swatted his head with a grin as the group followed the Prefect up the stairs. A portrait of a fat lady stood at the turn of the corridor. "God, how far away is this place?" Sirius asked as he staggered along.  
  
The Fat Lady looked at the approaching group. "First years?" she asked the prefect and he nodded. She smiled down at all of them crowded in front of her portrait. "Password then."  
  
"Rancid Blastwort." The Prefect said and the portrait swung open to admit the first years into the Common Room. "Boys follow me, girls you go with Wendy." The prefect said and he led the boys up a winding stairway to their room. "Right, you all get settled in, lights out is in a half an hour."  
  
Sirius grinned around the room as he and James claimed two of the top bunks. Gryffindor robes lay on each bed and Sirius shook his out to try them on. "Perfect fit. How do I look?" he asked. He turned around as if modeling the robes until a pillow hit him square in the back of the head. He turned around to stare indignantly at the culprit, one Remus Lupin.  
  
"Sorry about that Sirius old boy, I'm quite afraid my hand slipped." Remus said with a straight face. He sounded completely sincere and there was pure innocence written in his eyes. Sirius was beginning to think it really might have been an accident when his mind snapped back to reality.  
  
"Ha! You're good at that. Where'd you learn to lie so well?" he asked disbelievingly.  
  
Remus shrugged with a smile. "I'm afraid I've got no notion what you're talking about." He said.  
  
James snorted from his perch on the end of his bunk. "I'm sure you don't. Gee, you could get away with anything with a face like that." He marveled. Sirius shook his head at Remus as he took off the robe and climbed back onto his own bunk.  
  
"Night guys." Chris called out as he climbed into bed. The others followed suit, stifling gigantic yawns that threatened to dislocate their jaws. 


	2. Settling In

Sirius sniggered as he read the note that James had just tossed to him. Professor Grote turned away from the board to glare at his student. "Is there something amusing about Calming Draughts Mr. Black?" he asked. Sirius quickly stifled his laughter and shook his head. "No sir. Nothing funny about them." He said. It wouldn't do to get a detention the very first day of school.  
  
"Very well then." Professor Grot turned back to his writing and Sirius turned around and gave James a thumbs up. He had set up his part, now it was all up to James from here out. "Mr. Black, if you know so much about these potions that you can afford to ignore me perhaps you could tell us what the main ingredient of the Calming Draught would be?" Sirius turned around to find Professor Grote standing directly in front of his table.  
  
"Err." Sirius wasn't even completely certain about what the question had been much less the answer.  
  
"I thought not. Five points from Gryffindor." Professor Grote said. "Who can tell me the main ingredient of a Calming Draught?" he asked. A hand shot up on the Slytherin side of the room and Grote nodded. "Mr. Snape?"  
  
"The main ingredient of the Calming Draught would be powdered Abyssinian Shrivelfig sir." Said Snape. Sirius grimaced at the Slytherin. "Show-off." He muttered under his breath as Grote awarded Snape ten points to Slytherin for his answer.  
  
As they filed out of Potions Sirius nudged Remus. "Who's that prat who answered Grote's question?" he asked, pointing to the Slytherin in question who was clutching his books tightly to his chest as he hurried off to lunch.  
  
"I think that's Severus Snape." Remus said. "But what's this I hear about flying monkeys?" he asked.  
  
Sirius grinned. "Me and James figured security wouldn't be too tight since it's only the first day of school. I learned how to make these awesome little pellets from a book I've got. You just put water onto them and they turn into monkeys. And if you add pixie dust to them then they can fly. We've got them all set up." He smiled. "It's going to be great, hurry, I don't want to be late for lunch." As the two entered into the Dining Hall pandemonium broke out. Students shrieked as monkeys swooped down from the ceiling and around the tables.  
  
Sirius was delighted to see that one of the monkeys seemed to have fastened itself to Snape's head and was rapidly relieving itself. He nudged Remus who burst out laughing at the sight of the first year draw his hand away from his head covered in dung. Sirius waved to James who was attempting to shove the Muggle watergun he had used to activate the pellets into his robes.  
  
"Isn't this great?" James asked excitedly as he stared around at the chaotic hall. Up at the high table Grote was being attacked by a monkey wielding a breadstick and another monkey was zooming around holding giant tureens of stew that he sloshed on everyone near him.  
  
As the monkeys started to disintegrate into air Sirius and Remus dissolved into hysterics as they watched James attempt to wrestle a fading monkey off a whimpering Peter. "Buck up, they're just a joke shop trick." James said as he led Peter back to the table. "I sincerely doubt that any joke book would teach you how to make killer monkeys." He said. Peter still didn't look reassured but he stopped whimpering which was definitely an improvement.  
  
"Ahem." All four boys whirled as Grote cleared his throat behind them. "Well now, somehow I'm getting the feeling that you four are behind this somehow?" he said. His robes were still covered with crumbs and he disdainfully picked a few off of his robe. "Who us?" James asked, attempting to keep a straight face as he looked at the Potions master. "No sir. We were just telling Peter here that it must have been some quite advanced students who were the perpetrators in this instance. It must take quite a few years to learn how to do Charms like that." He said earnestly.  
  
Grote stared at James suspiciously and then shifted his gaze to Sirius who gave him a scared look and then said. "Oh please say you'll catch the people who did this. It makes Hogwarts seem so unsafe to have killer monkeys at meals." He said. Grote just scowled and walked away.  
  
Everyone except Peter who was still cowering in his chair sniggered as Grote walked away. "You two are horrible!" Remus said with a grin. James took a mock bow as he dug in. Chris and Sarah came up to join them, both laughing about the monkeys. Soon the talk turned to their classes as reams of house elves came out to clean up the mess the monkeys had made.  
  
* * *  
  
James skidded around the corner, Remus Lupin only steps behind him and almost tripped over the crumpled form on the ground. "God, what's wrong with him?" Remus asked as he slid to a halt at James' side.  
  
James looked down at Peter and then pulled out his wand. "I think it's a Bouncing Jinx. I read about them in one of the books Sirius ordered from China. The person you put it on will be flung back from anything he touches. It was originally just supposed to be funny but it can end up knocking the person out if it doesn't wear off quickly enough."  
  
Remus nodded as he leaned down to hoist Peter to his back. "Let's get him to Madame Pomfrey then. He looks like he'll be alright when he wakes up." He said. James stared at Remus. Peter wasn't exactly the lightest of boys but Remus had lifted him as though he were a stick. Remus noticed James staring at him and James quickly looked away as the two boys made their way down the corridor and towards the Infirmary.  
  
"Hey! Remus, James, come here for a second." Sirius said. He stopped as he saw Remus' burden and a concerned expression washed over his face. "What's wrong with Peter? What happened?" he asked. James explained his theory about the Bouncing Jinx and Sirius grimaced. "Slytherins."  
  
James nodded as he held open the Infirmary door for Remus. "Who else would it ever be?" Miss Pomfrey, the nurse's assistant rushed in as she saw Remus lay Peter's still form down on one of the beds.  
  
"My goodness! What have you boys been doing? What's wrong with the boy?" she asked. Remus and James shrugged and Sirius put on his best concerned yet innocent face. "We think he might've been trying the Wingardium Leviosa spell and mistakenly levitated himself and hit the ceiling. That's what we were working on today in Charms class and Peter was having some trouble with it ma'am." He said.  
  
Miss Pomfrey nodded as she prodded Peter a few times with her wand and then felt his head with her hand. "Yes he's got quite a lump here. You boys had better run along. Peter should be back with you by dinner time." she said. The boys thanked her and went back out to the hall talking quietly.  
  
"He can't really take care of himself, can he?" Remus asked. Sirius shook his head disgustedly. "I guess we'd better watch out for him or he's going to go and get himself killed before his second week here is over." James said, "But we can't do anything about it until he wakes up and can tell us what happened."  
  
* * *  
  
"I mean it, it was nothing. Really." Peter said. James stared at him suspiciously but Peter was concentrating fiercely on his chicken and refused to look at any of them. "It was just an accident. I tripped coming down the stairs and I must have knocked myself out."  
  
The other three didn't look even remotely convinced but James motioned for the other two to drop it and the talk turned to Quidditch. "I wish they would let first years play." Sirius said wistfully.  
  
"I hear they used to." Alyse said, looking up from her conversation with Lily and Sarah. "But then it was kind of unfair to the Muggle borns if all the wizarding first years filled up all the empty spots on the team before the Muggle born even knew what Quidditch was." She said.  
  
Sirius shrugged. "Makes sense I guess but I'd still love to do some Beating. I'm going to lose my touch if I don't practice."  
  
Remus looked up from the Transfiguration book he was poring over and grinned. "I miss Keeping too. Those broomstick lessons aren't even close to actually playing." Remus said. James grinned. "Well, at least without us there they're boring. With us around I don't think it's possible for anything to be boring." He said. Lily glared at him. "It's quite possible for you to be boring James Potter." She said. She glared at him for a moment and then turned away angrily.  
  
James blinked. He hadn't really meant to be conceited. What he had said was true. Just the other day during class Sirius had managed to put a simple Dancing Charm onto Madame Hooch so that whenever she said the word "broom" she would begin to dance around uncontrollably. The class had caught on quickly and had spent most of the period going into hysterics over their teacher's antics.  
  
That one had, in the end, earned both James and Sirius a detention each but they had agreed that it was well worth it.  
  
James frowned as he glanced quickly at the back of Lily's head. Her long red hair was in its normal ponytail and James wondered just what she would look like if she let that beautiful hair down. James was only distracted from his musings as a cold glob hit the side of his face and he looked up indignantly, scraping the mashed potatoes off the side of his face. "Quit staring into space and listen to me." Sirius said. "I was just saying that we should get together some first year quidditch teams. Chris was telling me about how at Muggle schools they have varsity for the older kids and then junior varsity for the younger kids. We could do that here too. Muggles had a good idea for once."  
  
Remus smiled excitedly. "That would be great. For this we'll actually have to get permission for once. And we'll have to get the real Team Captains to say it's alright since we don't want to endanger our chances of getting on the team next year. But we have to figure out a good way to suggest it to everyone so all the houses will do it. It won't be any fun if only Gryffindor has a team."  
  
James just smiled. "And I have the perfect idea." He said. 


	3. Sneaking In

"Shut up for a second you prat, I can hardly see to think." James whispered irritably as he elbowed Peter in the side. They had been waiting for almost three hours now and the wait was beginning to wear on all of them. The Gryffindor common room was almost completely silent except for a few light snores drifting down the passage. Peter had argued against coming along but the others were adamant. They wouldn't stand for Peter to get into another of his "accidents" while they weren't about.  
  
Finally the portrait hole swung slowly open and five house elves trotted silently in to begin the nightly cleaning. Sirius was amazed to see how much work the house elves had to do. He had never really thought of the drinks left sitting out at night, gone in the morning. Nor of the feathers that were often left covering the common room as a result of a late night pillow fight, swept away by morning as if they had never been there. He shared a guilty look with James who was thinking the same thoughts. The house elves were just beginning to clean the strange isle of goo that had exploded out of a chocolate James and Sirius had jinxed. The one on the floor had exploded before they could get it into the box. Despite himself James grinned. That annoying know-it-all Slytherin prat from Potions, Snape, was going to get quite a surprise in the mail at breakfast.  
  
It was a strain for the four to remain completely quiet but they managed as the time passed slowly away and the common room began to look cleaner than new. After about half an hour the house elves began to speak in quiet voices. The boys strained to hear their chatter but at that volume it was impossible to make out the house elves squeaky voices. Sirius could only manage to make out a few words from the low conversation. "Dark..order.eenix.house elves..." one of the house elves said. James was surprised to see that he was tallish for a house elf and wore a uniform much unlike the other house elves. The house elves grew even quieter as this elf relayed his news and they peered anxiously around the dark room before exiting silently through the portrait hole.  
  
The four boys waiting silently on the stairs heaved a sigh of relief as they stood and quietly followed the house elves. James led the way, Remus and Sirius behind him with Peter in the back. Sirius was watching Remus with awe as his friend walked completely silently through the halls. The others were trying to be as quiet as they could but there was still the soft padding of feet and the occasional "Ow!" from Peter as he stumbled over something in the dark. But Remus walked as silently as a wolf stalking its prey. His step was light and sure even in the darkness that surrounded them. Sirius could only manage to keep his footing by the pale light that his wand cast on the floor.  
  
Finally James stopped as he rounded a corner, bringing the other three up short behind him. "Hush!" he whispered urgently as Peter banged into Sirius with a slight "Ooph!" the group that they had been following had somehow diminished to two. The strange looking elf and a small female. They had paused in front of a still life painting of a bowl of fruit and were whispering urgently. Finally the female elf nodded and scurried down the hallway in the opposite direction. The other elf stared at the painting for a moment, reached out as if to touch one of the fruits and then brought his hand back and left.  
  
James started forwards again to follow him but Sirius held him back. "I think Peter has twisted this ankle of his. He can't seem to walk on it. I don't think we should leave him here alone either. He'd probably panic and start screaming loud enough to wake the whole castle."  
  
"I would not!" Peter said indignantly. "James knows I know better than that, don't you James?" he asked pleadingly James shrugged, disappointed that their quest would have to wait for another night. He stepped forwards and turned his back to the fruit painting to face the other three. "I told Longbottom it'd be tonight. He said he could convince the others but if we don't show at breakfast I'm not certain how well the other Captains will take it. Frank is nice but I don't know about the others, not to mention that Malfoy is Slytherin team captain and he'd be reluctant enough about it if he didn't have some pet first years running around."  
  
Sirius growled and James struggled to keep from looking at him oddly. Sirius had secrets and James was willing for them to remain that way. Sirius pounded his fist onto the painting, striking an oddly proportioned pear that sat to the left of the fruitbowl.  
  
The pear giggled.  
  
The four boys stared at the pear. Sirius reached up again and lightly touched the pear. It convulsed with a giggle. Sirius began to tickle it and the pear began to laugh uncontrollably as the painting began to swing open.  
  
"Yes! Good job Sirius, we'll be able to finish this after all." James said. He stepped through the doorway that the picture had revealed and whispered "Lumosell." He flicked his wand and the room was instantly bathed in light. Sirius looked around the room in delight, his eyes feasting hungrily upon the many dishes that lay on the large counters, simply waiting to be spelled up to the tables for breakfast.  
  
James was happily crunching away upon a large chocolate chip cookie that he had found inside one of the ovens. He looked up to find Remus glaring at him accusingly. "What? Oh, right, down to business. You all should know your parts by now. Righty oh!" James went over to peer at the large bowls of oatmeal that sat waiting quietly. Taking his wand out of his back pocket he pointed at the oatmeal and whispered a few words under his breath. He went around to all the other oatmeal and then started in on the orange juice. He finished just as Sirius bespelled the last of his bacon and toast and came over to James.  
  
"You remember the way back don't you?" Remus asked from across the room. A blank look blossomed on James' face and his mouth dropped open.  
  
* * *  
  
"Wake up you lazy bum." Chris prodded James with his finger as James stifled a giant yawn. "What's with the four of you that you're all still half asleep?" James just shook his head, stifling yet another yawn. It had taken them almost another hour to get back to the dormitories and James had hardly been able to sleep for his excitement.  
  
Sirius was looking at his watch inbetween yawns, counting down the seconds until the spell would take effect. "Now!" Chris and Kyle turned to look at him with bemused expressions but were distracted almost instantly as the toast Peter had been about to put into his mouth turned into a figure on a broomstick wearing Gryffindor robes. Almost instantly a team of seven were up above each table and moments later Slytherin and Gryffindor were involved in a fierce match on one side of the Hall and Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff were battling away on the other.  
  
Cheers broke out from the tables as they rooted for their own team in miniature. Then the second phase of the spell took effect and another seven figures burst out of the oatmeal at each table each carrying a banner that read "Junior Quidditch Team!" These teams too began to battle fiercely and the students cheered even more wildly than before. James tapped his wand on the table three times and the players froze in mid air. Sirius nodded to Frank Longbottom, the Gryffindor Quidditch captain who leapt to his feet.  
  
"We're instating Junior Quidditch teams! Junior teams are open to all students fourth year and below. Join your house team!" As Frank spoke Remus, James and Sirius had crept to the other house tables and now they began rousing chants of "Gryff-in-dor! Gryff-in-dor!" "Huffle-puff!" "Raven- claw!" "Slyth-er-in!" the other students took up the cheers readily and soon the Great Hall resonated with the cheers from the four houses. James, Remus, Sirius and Peter shared a satisfied glance.  
  
* * *  
  
Just as the hall was beginning to calm down after the turmoil of the announcement the owls began to swoop in upon the breakfasters beladen with the letters and packages sent to the Hogwarts students. The quiet that fell as the students eagerly read the news from home was suddenly interrupted by a shriek from over at the Slytherin table.  
  
All heads swiveled towards the disruption. Severus Snape was sitting among the remains of a box of gourmet chocolates, oozing green slime and smelling horribly of garbage. He seemed frozen for a moment, his lower lip trembling violently, and then leaped up from his table and ran out of the dining hall, leaving a trail of slime and laughter in his wake.  
  
"Whoah! That was great! Did you see the little prat. He was just standing there sniveling like a pathetic little worm that fell into the garbage!" Sirius crowed. The other three were too busy laughing their heads off to respond but Lily Evans who was sitting a few seats away with Sarah Hastings looked up indignantly.  
  
"Don't you dare say something like that about that poor boy. He might be annoying and rather disgusting too but how would you feel if everyone in the school was laughing about you. How would you feel if the only thing people knew you for was being "Slimy Snape"? "Snivelling Snape"?" she demanded. Sirius put his hands up defensively and shrugged under the onslaught.  
  
"Ooh, does Lily have a little bit of a crush on Snapey?" Peter asked mockingly.  
  
"Shut UP Peter!" Lily and the other three shouted. Peter jumped and turned back to his plate sulkily as Lily grabbed out her wand. "I do not have a crush on that slimy prat! Don't you dare say that!" James reached out and grabbed her arm before she could think of a properly horrible jinx.  
  
"Don't curse him Evans, he's enough of a wimp already." He muttered to her. He spoke quietly so no one else would hear but her eyes still flashed angrily. "Don't you tell me what to do James Potter!" she hissed. James shrugged and backed away as she stuck her wand back into her pocket.  
  
* * *  
  
By the time the Gryffindor first years reached their third class of the day, Charms, they were still conversing eagerly on the two topics of the day; Snape and the junior Quidditch teams. Satisfied with their work, James, Sirius, Remus and Peter found tables around the large room.  
  
"If you would all direct your attention to the front of the class please?" Professor Flitwick said in his high squeak of a voice. "Today we'll be working on the Hover Charm so if you would please clear your desks and bring out your wands we can get started." Flitwick waited until the assorted Gryffindor and Hufflepuff students did as he asked and then continued. "You will find that the wand work is much like that involved in a Flame Freezing Charm so if you would I would like to see you all practice the swift poke and whirl once before you begin to practice."  
  
Beside James Peter was anxiously muttering "Poke and whirl." As he jabbed frantically at the air. James smirked at his friend and expertly jabbed his wand out at the empty air and whisked it to the side. Professor Flitwick beamed down at James from his seat at the podium in the corner. "Very good Mr. Potter, I think you have it down! Five points to Gryffindor." He said.  
  
Peter looked at James with awe. "Wow, I bet you're the best wizard in the whole first year James. I bet you're better even than some of the second years." James shrugged with a grin which was almost instantly wiped away as he heard a disdainful voice from behind him, "pompous little jerk." one voice said. James strained to hear the reply but Peter had just managed to blow up his desk and James could only catch "stupid pranks, the little show- off." as Professor Flitwick cleared his throat. "Now, the incantation for this spell is Volarte. Say that for me once and then I'll bring out the pillows that we'll be hovering." James turned around in his chair to see Lily and Sarah glaring at him fiercely. Sarah looked away when he turned towards her but Lily smirked at him before he turned around.  
  
"Volarte!" chorused the class obediently. Professor Flitwick nodded and with a swish of his wand sent pillows flying to each member of the class. James pointed his wand at his pillow idly and made a small movement with his wand as he said, "Volarte!" his pillow slowly bobbed up to the height he was holding his wand at and hovered gently in the air. James raised his wand a few inches and the pillow obediently bobbed up to meet it. "I wish I could be more like you James. You're so good at everything. I'm just stupid." Peter said. James shook his head, "You're not stupid Peter, you just need to practice a bit more. See you're doing it more like a poke than a jab and you've got to make the e on the end more pronounced." Peter tried again and this time his pillow quivered momentarily and then fell still again. It took him seventeen more tries to get his pillow to hover even momentarily and twenty one tries later when he had failed to make any more progress James turned to his other side in disgust to talk with Sirius.  
  
"Frank caught me in between classes, he said that he's already gotten enough applicants to make up three teams but that we're still first on his list. Gryffindor try outs are next Tuesday to make sure that after the excitement dies down only the people who really want to play are left." James said.  
  
Sirius nodded, his lean face breaking into a smile as he brushed a bit of his hair out of his eyes. "So we've got until then to practice up and plan our next move." James nodded. "I'm thinking that Evans needs to be taken down. She's always sticking her fiery little red head into other people's business."  
  
"I've got the perfect plan. Lily Evans beware, James and Sirius are on your tail." Sirius said. 


End file.
